Blink

okay, right about here it gets fucked up. the new york arc of this story is very wrong. i hadn't finished the series yet, so i didn't know all the details about kitazawa. i really dislike the second half of this story, which started around chapter 11. there was a very long pause between halves, and the last chapter itself had a 6-month break in the middle of it. so i'm sorry.

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“Are you sure, Tatsuha?”

“Yeah,” he muttered, wiping his nose with his right index finger. I smiled slightly.

“I’ll stay if you want,” I whispered.

“No!” he squeaked. “Eiri, I want you to go. Mika and Father will be here, and Mother’s gone. Don’t worry about me.” I pulled him gently into a hug.

“If you’re absolutely sure.”

“Yes. Go, I’ll be fine. I want you to be happy. Somewhere safe.” We each smiled softly, and he carefully kissed my cheek, trying not to brush the bandage. He did, and it hurt, but I didn’t show that.

“I’ll write you soon, okay?” He nodded excitedly.

“I’ll miss you.” We broke apart and walked to Tohma and Mika. Tohma took his lips from my sister’s and promised to see her soon.

“Don’t worry. He’s safe with me,” he said.

“I know,” Mika answered quietly. I followed Tohma to the plane and I watched out the window as the place I had grown up all my life faded away.

I sat back in the seat and wriggled uncomfortably. Tohma smiled weakly at me. “It’s alright. I know the first plane ride can be scary, but it gets better.” He seemed worried himself, and that made an uneasy feeling rise in my stomach. I didn’t get out of my seat the first half of the trip and could hardly eat what I was offered.

Somewhere over an ocean I was staring down and suddenly realized I really had to go to the bathroom. I quietly asked Tohma where it was, feeling embarrassed. He kindly told me and even took me back, understanding my nerves. He was even still there when I came out. I smiled shakily and thanked him as he led me back to our seats. He put an arm around me, and it made me feel a little better.

Before we reached the states, we flew through a storm. We had to refasten our seatbelts and I sat, staring out the window. I watched the lightning strike several times before I grabbed Tohma’s arm. He wrapped his other hand around mine, and I looked at him, a terrified expression on my face. “I’m scared,” I whispered. Tohma smiled softly.

“That’s okay.” I clung to him the rest of the trip, a sudden fear that if I let him go something would happen to break the window and I would be swept away coming over me.

Once we landed, he pried me off long enough to unbuckle us both. I hung on his arm, nearly making us trip on the stairs, until we ate. He wasn’t angry about it; I think he liked that I was so attached now. He had been scared I wouldn’t go because of the notebook, but right then, I didn’t really care.

We picked up our bags, and I didn’t let go, forcing us each to carry all of our things in one hand. We found the food court and he forced me to sit at a table with the bags while he got us dinner. He sat down across from me and we both ate greedily. I watched him for a moment, and tried not to laugh when he dropped taco meat into his lap. I picked up my glass of pop and put the straw in my mouth to cover my giggles as he tried to clean it off.

He glanced up at me and could tell I was laughing. He made a face, and I couldn’t stop it. I laughed hard, and what little soda I was drinking nearly came out my nose. That made it worse. I just started laughing and almost fell off my chair. It was just too funny. He laughed too, and we didn’t stop until long after we reached his apartment.

When we left the food court people were staring at us. He hailed a taxi outside and we laughed the entire way. He led me up, and as we started to settle in for bed we managed to control ourselves. Tohma pulled the couch into a bed and threw some pillows and blankets down.

“There we go. We’ll have to get you your own bed tomorrow, but for tonight you can use my bed and I’ll sleep out here, okay?” I nodded happily. He showed me the bedroom, and even tucked me in. “Sleep good, and I’ll show you around the city in the morning.” He gently rubbed my head and went to the living room. I fell asleep rather quickly, tired from the trip.

A few hours later I woke up to thunder rumbling outside. Only minutes later, lightning flashed followed by more thunder. I watched the storm out the window for half an hour, unable to sleep, then snuck out to the other room. Tohma was sleeping peacefully, his blankets shrugged off. I climbed up beside him and pulled the blankets around us both. I hunkered down, curled up against his back, and soon fell asleep, comforted by his body heat and slow breathing.

The next time I woke up, Tohma was shaking me gently. “Eiri, it’s time to get up.” I opened my eyes and he was smiling at me from above the bed. “Breakfast is ready,” he said. I climbed out of the bed, rubbing sleep from my eyes, and followed him to the table where eggs were awaiting me. We ate quietly as I started writing in my head and he read the newspaper. I was lost to my own world, having completely forgotten about the food in front of me, when Tohma said my name.

My eyes snapped to his face, and my cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He smiled. “Eiri, eat your breakfast,” he said. After two months of me staying with him and Mika he had learned when I was writing. “It’ll get cold and we need to get going.” I complied and had it gone within ten minutes. Five minutes later I was dressed and he was locking the door behind us.

We walked around one part of the city and got me a bed that would be delivered three days later. “Great. Time to clean a little,” Tohma had said as we walked out of the store. We had lunch at a hotdog stand, and I was starting to get a little hyper off of candy he had bought me. Sugar plus me equals at least one unsuspecting, freaked out adult. By the time we got back to Tohma’s apartment, I knew I was getting on his nerves. I hid myself away for about an hour, until the high passed, then sat and talked with Tohma for a while.~